It's official, I'm old

Because I couldn't stand the screeching noise whenever the kiddos pushed their chairs around, I have invested 2$ and bough chair leg covers (because real baby socks wouldn't work and no way, I'm knitting any!).

Fall break

...can be very long. It's 1pm an we already started on our sand cookies (dough is chillin it in the fridge), went to the pool, watched Hennry Hugglemonster and had lunch. Now: moon sand on the porch. 

So far, so clear. 

Ikea hack of sorts

Sorting through stuff, I came across this Ikea pillow case. From an old couch, I think, but who knows? 

Anyhoo, I was almost tossing it, when I realized I could just as well make it into a duffel bag instead. We'll need a lot of suitcases, etc very soon and why spend money if I can make it with scraps for free?

It took about 20mins to sew -because, yes. I'm eyeballing everything. ;)

But: I have a new duffel bag and don't have to feel bad about tossing fabric. 

30 minutes loop scarf

...aka: something to do on Monday mornings, while little dude plays in the pool. 

And even no-sew!

Christmas

...isn't far off. 

So I finished my first (assemble only) bunting today. 

Striped table cloth

On Pinterest, I stumbled on a <a href="http://ohhappyday.com/2013/06/striped-tablecloth-diy/">striped tablecloth</a> DIY by "Oh Happy Day", who in turn got inspired by Anthropolgie. 

Great, because I just stumbled over an old white table cloth I didn't want to toss. 

So I got me some blue paint and started. 

About 2 Simpson's episodes later, I was done. Now it needs to dry and I'll have to iron it tomorrow. 

Not that I'll be using it here, but it'll be unpacked and ready to be used (on our real table at home) at the end of January. 

No way, I would have painted this tablecloth on my bamboo floor back home!

Some little animals we can find in our backyard

Dragonflies

And even baby turtles!

Japanische Schnittmuster

I made it to my favorite bookstore ever without -lemme spell it out for you: W I T H O U T- any kids!!!

...managed to look at a lot of books and left with 3. 

Yeah!

1/2hr clutch

A friend used socks as a wallet, so I quickly made her a new wallet/ clutch from recycled stuff. 

Including a ribbon from her favorite tea store in Singapore. ;)

Dessert

Mascarpone Chocolate mousse and shortbread cookies.

Mine!

Fresh Fruit

Is somewhat pricey around here.

And I love fruit!!!

Things I don't need to see on my patio:

snake skin, thank you very much.

new shopping bag

I hate, hate, hate these millions of plastic bags and we left a lot of fabric totes when we move here.
Perfect opportunity to make new ones! (While catching up on Castle. ;))

5 minutes a day bread

Love the book! Even seems to work well. Our sandwich bread:

Pimped Patapum in 30 mins

I like our Patapum. I however am a little bored with the color only 2 weeks into it.
So I decided to pimp it up quickly by sewing on an extra front panel. It took all but 30mins to do and I love it.
Sure, it's not a slipcover, but that just sounded like a lot of work for a Monday evening.

Baggage tags, the world was waiting for

I actually bought shirts for myself and had their pretty sturdy price tags over. As well as scraps from making new shorts for the girlie kid.
My travel suitcases and bagpacks have no tags though and I refuse to pay an arm and a leg for a single tag!
So, reduce, reuse, recycle in 10 minutes!

No name on these tags, but at least our baggage is easier to recognize now.

Homemade finger paint

1/2 c corn starch
2 c water
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsp sugar
And too much color added, once the above stuff had cooked.

Works great! Main problem Wilson colors are not easy to wash off little kids hands.

Thursday morning craft

I wanted a shower and tv for the girly kid was not an option.
But: we have a ton of paper bags (even though I always have fabric totes with me!). So why not use it?

I helped with making little triangles for girly kid and she did the rest.
All of it.

It turned out pretty cool!

Camera case

My little camera needed to have a case. 2 years after it moved in...

I spend 20 minutes (including cutting the fabric) on this simple case. And it shows on the inside.
But.
Who cares?

Strawberry Popsicles

My kids don't eat fruit. Unless it comes disguised as smoothie or Popsicle. So make strawberry Popsicles about 3 times a week.
Ingredients:
- (frozen) strawberries
- juice
- sugar syrup
Toss it into your food processor and adjust quantity of juice accordingly.

Making sure I do it the right way:

Using a strainer to get these pesty seeds out. (Leaving them in, means nobody would eat it later.)

Fill it into the mold and pop it into your freezer.